About Me
Remington R. Motte | Preferred pronouns: He/Him
Evolutionary Biology
I am interested in investigating the challenges associated with investigating trait evolution posed by introgression, horizontal gene transfer, and incomplete lineage sorting, among other complex biological phenomena. I'm particularly passionate about advancing phylogenetic network methods and exploring broad evolutionary questions.
- Degree: BS in Biology at Utah Valley University
- City: Orem, UT
- Current Position: PhD Student
- Email: remingtonribailmotte@gmail.com
My name is Remington Ribail Motte. I have lived all over southern Utah, but I consider Price my hometown. I attented Utah Valley University in Orem, UT, where I received my Bachelors of Science in Biology. During my tenure at UVU, I did research with Dr. Carl Hjelmen and Dr. Lauren Brooks where I utilized comparative phylogenetics and microbial variant calling. Recently, I was accepted to the University of Arkansas in Dr. Jeremy Beaulieu's lab, where I will continue my education and obtain my PhD. in Biology with the goal of becoming a professor of evolution, phylogenetics, genomics, and bioinformatics
Experience
I joined Dr. Jeremy Beaulieu's lab in the begining of Auguest of 2023. Currently I'm working on developing a project for my dissertation. I'm interested in developing/improving phylogenetic comparative methods for phylogenetic networks, as well as understanding the relationship between gene tree discordance, trait evolution and diversification.
For more information on my PhD laboratory, click here
While at UVU, I did research with Dr. Carl E. Hjelmen. I gained skills in phylogenetic reconstruction methods (Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian), comparative methods as well as R-studio for data visualization and analysis. For my project in Dr. Hjelmen's lab I investigated the relationship between DSCAM1 evolution and sociality.
For more information on my undergraduate laboratory, click here
Conference Presentations
Publications
Cited
Interests
Outside of biology I have a lot of different hobbies and interests, including...
Baseball - I've played baseball (as well as many other sports) since I was ten and I'm a big fan of the Rockies and the Yankees! At some point the Rockies are going to good...
Arts & Crafts - I mostly use graphite as my medium, but I occasionally use watercolor and acryllic paints. Eventually I want to get into sculpture and pottery so I can make my own tea mugs!
Being Active - working out, playing sports, hiking, skydiving (see left picture), etc.
Reading - I really enjoy good storytelling, especially fantasy, sci-fi and dystopian novels. I've also been reading philosophical novels recently.
Music - This past semester (Fall 2024) I started collecting records
Computers - Sometime within the next few months I plan on building my own PC so I can become more familiar with the hardware of a computer.
References
Mentors/employers that I have worked with
Jeremy Beaulieu, PhD
Associate Professor at UARK of Evolutionary Biology
Email: jmbeauli@uark.edu
Carl Hjelmen, PhD
Assistant Professor at UVU of Bioinformatics and Genomics
Email: carl.hjelmen@uvu.edu
Lauren Brooks, PhD
Assistant Professor at UVU for Microbiology
Email: lauren.brooks@uvu.edu
